Toilet Flush - terrible noise in pipes!

[LineRunner]

Could anyone advise? (Even if it's who I should call!)

After we flush our loo (which is upstairs) the pipes make a noise. Like playing a tuba. This happens as the cistern fills back up. At then end of each 'performance' the noise is very loud.

Does anyone know what causes this, and what I can do about it?

A friend advised bleeding the radiators but it didn't help.

I've just realised that that last post could be a passage out of a bondage book.

Update: My external stopcock is so old it cannot be turned. So I have contacted the water company to request that it is please replaced with a new plastic model.

This apparently will involve 'excavation' and cannot be done for a few weeks.

Is it just me? Or is everything involved with living in a terraced house so crap for everyone else?

will they charge? they would probably change it to a meter with integrated valve foc.

do you have lead pipes? there is sometimes a subsidy for replacing them with plastic. There is usually a subsidy for replacing leaking underground pipes, and if yours are old, they may well be.

BTW a useful tip for stop-cocks, radiator valves etc to prevent then jamming open:

wind them fully open, then back half a turn. This means the spindle is not hard against the stop, so less likely to jam. It also give you ther chance to turn them a fraction one way, then a fraction the other, and repeat, a little more each time, which will often free a sticking or corroded valve.

too late for you, sorry.

Thanks, *PigletJohn, for all the advice. You are such a helpful poster.

No-one's mentioned charging yet - I guess they inspect first. But the external stopcocks do belong to the water company?

if it's in the pavement, yes

across the boundary onto your land, yours.

I have known water companies assert that they have no responsibility to provide a stopcock.

It's in the pavement.

The nice woman I spoke to didn't mention money at all.

that's good (perhaps)

who is your water company?

A northern one but I don't want to out myself!

I've got the washer(s) from the water board man. He had them in the back of his van. Looking back at PJ's instructions now ....

if you're able to take the old ballcock off to rewasher it (give it a scrub in the sink too) it will actually be faster to fit a new one on the old stem. A swap is quicker and easier. A Fluidmaster or Torbeck is much quieter than the old type with a big round float. Side-fitting ones are are easier than bottom-fitting

It will cost more at a DIY shed.

You can get them with a brass stem for a bit more, but it will be easier for you to leave the old stem in place.

You can still clean up and rewasher the old one, keep it, it will be useful to swap next time you need to fix ballcock.

You'll need a few big adjustable spanners. A cheap set from the supermarket will do. Note that the biggest is ten inches long - don't get baby ones for this job.

Really good shifters can easily cost £20 each, which you don't need for this job.

I suppose you can borrow a DIY book from the library. Nobody is born knowing how to do it. European plumbing is different, American plumbing is very different.

I am staring at (a) the ballcock and (b) your post, PigletJohn, with a mixture of horror and admiration.

I'm going to try to do this myself.

First, need to catch my spanners...

make sure you turn the water off first, and run the bathroom cold taps until the water stops running.

As your valve is tromboning, I expect it will be supplied at mains pressure, and not from a tank. So no need to run the hot tap.

If you're going to do it yourself, I think you need a DIY book. I couldn't find a UK film of it on Videojug. American plumbing is very different. If you ask on here someone may be able to explain it with pictures. I don't think I can explain it without. Once you have done it a couple of times you will think nothing of it.

if it's a brass one, try this but it is more likely plastic

A lot of the youtube stuff is not British and is not what you need.

Pictures 1 to 9 on here might help

Thank you

Hi. It's the diaphragm in the float valve. Where the arm with the ball on meets the solid stem that's attached to the cistern. Un screw the large white nut. (After turning water off) remove the arm arm. Pull the the the drum out and in side is the diaphragm. It looks like solid black washer about the size of a ten p. prob cost about ten p to buy aswell. Flip it out and replace with the new one. Re assemble the float valve. The job is very simple to complete and should take a confident person about 20min. If you need to call a plumber out the cost should be no more than £30-£50.

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